Jassbusters
Nothing is ever straightforward with Connan Mockasin, and nothing should ever be straightforward with Connan Mockasin. This riddled rule has never resounded more than on Jassbusters, Mockasin’s third album and first in five years. An unclassifiable, unconventional album that neither picks up from nor abandons the modes of 2013’s widely-embraced Caramel or its 2010 predecessor Forever Dolphin Love, Jassbusters foreshadows a five-part melodrama titled Bostyn ’n Dobsyn, directed by and staring Mockasin. Jassbusters soundtracks the unpredictable narrative of the television series in eclectic, electric ways. Whether bending genres for shits n’ giggles or collaborating with artists like James Blake (who might just appear on a Jassbusters track), MGMT, John Cale, and Charlotte Gainsbourg, Connan Mockasin has always maneuvered in mysterious ways. After touring with the likes of Radiohead and Neil & Liam Finn (Crowded House), the Kiwi R&B surrealist continues assembling a cult around his theater, nay spectacle, of life with Bostyn ’n Dobsyn screenings and Jassbusters performances throughout October and November 2018.
The eccentric New Zealand singer-songwriter turns his skewed pop sensibilities toward soundtracking a five-part melodrama of his own making; it’s intermittently gorgeous but frustratingly foggy.
Following his 2016 outing as one-half of Soft Hair, an uncomfortable pink-glazed detour into seedy synth-funk with co-conspirator LA Priest, displaced Kiwi Connan Mockasin returns to bandleading business with Jassbusters, an eight-song soundtrack to his homemade absurdist five-part melodrama film, Bostyn 'n Dobsyn.
Jassbusters is Connan Mockasin's third album and first since 2013's Caramel. The New Zealander's latest was recorded live at Studios Ferber...
Connan Mockasin has never been much of a classifiable dude. He's lived in various cities, including New Zealand's Wellington (his "hometown"), but also London, LA, and most recently, Tokyo.
Connan Mockasin's latest album is 'Jassbusters' - the score to an as yet unreleased film, made by a make-believe band of music teachers.
Connan Mockasin steps away from overt comedy for a pop record that is more quirky than anything else in our review of 'Jassbusters'